Towse: views from the hill

May 24, 2007

[URL] passive-aggressive notes

Filed under: life,URL — Towse @ 3:25 pm

passive-aggressive notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers and strangers

for the purposes of this project, we’re using a pretty broad (and to some extent, arbitrary) definition of “passive-aggressive” that roughly correlates with how the term is popularly used. (most people don’t go diving for the dsm IV when someone describes his or her roommate as “so passive-aggressive” — or “so antisocial” or “so sadistic” or “so schizo,” for that matter.)

some of the notes here are really more aggressive in tone, and some of them are more passive — polite, even — but they all share a common sense of frustration that”s been channeled into a written note rather than a direct confrontation. while it may be more accurate, “asshole-ish notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers and strangers” (or “well-deserved notes from roommates…”) just doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily, you know?

Read ‘em. Send in your own.

A companion blog to wrongkmiller.

[Thanks, cygnoir!]

[URL] WRONGKMILLER.com

Filed under: life,URL — Towse @ 1:45 pm

Ah. The Web’s a Wonder.

“Towse” isn’t exactly the most common last name in the States (more like 77,020th most popular last name (surname) in the United States [ref: http://www.placesnamed.com/t/o/towse.asp]), so I don’t get too many wrong e-mails addressed to a different s.towse, but Miller is a different story.

kmiller claims that Miller is the seventh-most popular surname in the States. (which placesnamed.com confirms)

Nearly five out of ever 100 people is a miller.

[actually 0.424%: k.miller didn’t grok the difference between percentile (4.660) and percentage. ref: http://www.placesnamed.com/m/i/miller.asp]

the census doesn’t calculate how many of those millers have a first name starting with “k,” but i think it’s safe to go with “a lot.” maybe even, “a shitload.” i should know: i get their email.

So, k.miller started a blog called WRONGKMILLER.com: there are lots of k.millers in the world. i get their gmail.

Entertaining, but then I’m easily amuzed.

[via a link at passive-aggressive notes]

May 22, 2007

What Should I Read Next?

Filed under: app,books,URL — Towse @ 8:15 pm

What Should I Read Next?

Enter a book you like and the site will analyse our database of real readers’
favourite books (over 32,000 and growing) to suggest what you could read next.

e.g.

Enter title and/or author

Enter title: The End of Mr. Y
[click] What Should I Read Next?

App comes back
Did you mean:
The End of Mr. Y – Scarlett Thomas

Click the title above if correct, or amend the details below

[click] title above

results:

The Carpathians – Janet Frame See Amazon UK | US
My Life as Emperor – Su Tong See Amazon UK | US
Charades – Janette Turner Hospital See Amazon UK | US
The Pig Who Sang to the Moon – Jeffrey Masson See Amazon UK | US
The Gourmet Club: A Sextet – Jun’ichiro Tanizaki, Anthony Chambers, Paul McCarthy See Amazon UK | US
The Secret World of Og – Pierre Berton See Amazon UK | US
Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust – Charles Patterson See Amazon UK | US
Quicksand – Jun’ichiro Tanizaki See Amazon UK | US
Tales of Hoffmann – E. T. A Hoffmann See Amazon UK | US
The Collected Stories of Frank O’Connor – Frank O’Connor See Amazon UK | US

more results …

Interesting app. And, yes, Scarlett Thomas’ other books do not pop up in that first list of suggestions.

Register if you’d like to be part of this Web2.0 app. Site money stream seems to come from those Amazon click-throughs.

[caution: The response time can be a bit slow.]

[mentioned in a post from the Project Wombat list.]

May 18, 2007

takeourword.com Blog

Filed under: blog,URL,wordstuff — Towse @ 6:55 pm

takeourword.com Blog: the companion blog to the Take Our Word For It webzine and site.

Melanie and Mike are back in action. Check out the blog. Check out the site. Word-huggers and amateur etymologists rejoice.

Writing markets stuff moving in with the writer colony over >>> there

I’ve decided to keep writing markets “stuff” at the writers’ resources site from this day forth. The posts were taking up too much real estate.

The resources blog will carry the markets information I’ve been carrying here. Coolio writer stuff may wind up in both this blog and that. Info on the writers’ resources site will be updated to include new markets information and links wigati. The resources blog will probably be updated from its 2002 look some day as well.

From now on writing markets info will live there not here. Those of you who read here for great apps, interesting sites, San Francisco foodie news and life, the universe and prayer flags can continue on uninterrupted. Those who only cared about the markets info will find their focus more focussed at the other blog.

This has been a management postie. We now return you to the normal blog content, sans writing markets information.

May 14, 2007

Butt naked

Filed under: blog,URL,wordstuff — Towse @ 8:06 pm

Jan Freeman’s 13 May 2007 column on eggcorns

[via Benjamin Zimmer’s Language Log ]

[PAY MKT] Yoga Journal

Filed under: URL,writing-market — Towse @ 7:48 pm

Writers’ Guidelines for Yoga Journal

Yoga Journal covers the practice and philosophy of yoga. In particular we welcome articles on the following themes:

1. Leaders, spokespersons, and visionaries in the yoga community;
2. The practice of hatha yoga;
3. Applications of yoga to everyday life (e.g., relationships, social issues, livelihood, etc.);
4. Hatha yoga anatomy and kinesiology, and therapeutic yoga;
5. Nutrition and diet, cooking, and natural skin and body care.

Payment varies, depending on length, depth of research, etc. We pay within 90 days of final acceptance: $800 to $2000 for features, $400 to $800 for departments, $25 to $100 for Om Page and Well-Being, and $200 to $250 for book reviews.

No unsolicited e-sub.

[PAY MKT] Escape Pod

Filed under: URL,writing-market — Towse @ 7:39 pm

Writers’ Guidelines for Escape Pod, a podcast genre ‘zine.

EP is a genre ‘zine. We’re looking for science fiction and fantasy. Please don’t send us anything that doesn’t fit those descriptions. And by the way, we mean SF/F on a level that matters to the plot. Your story about a little boy receiving a balloon before his heart transplant may be touching literature, but it probably isn’t something we’re interested in, even if you edit it so that the balloon’s an alien and the heart came from Satan.

(UPDATE: As of August 2006, Escape Pod no longer runs horror. We’ve spun that off into a sister podcast, Pseudopod, edited by Mur Lafferty and Ben Philips. We do not share our slushpiles, so please send them your horror stories directly. It’s a great podcast to listen to, by the way, if you like to be disturbed.)

We’re primarily interested in two lengths of fiction, which we’ve dubbed (somewhat arbitrarily) ‘short fiction’ and ‘flash fiction.’

PAYS: $100 for short fiction (2-6K wds) and $20 for flash fiction (up to 1K wds. “sweet spot”: 500 wds.)

[...]

[PAY MKT] Paying poetry markets

Filed under: URL,writing-market — Towse @ 7:26 pm

List of paying poetry markets from sfpoetry.com

[PAY MKT] South Florida Parenting

Filed under: URL,writing-market — Towse @ 7:23 pm

Writers’ guidelines for South Florida Parenting.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
Most South Florida Parenting articles are purchased from freelance writers. In a typical issue, readers will find a variety of regular departments: Out & About, Baby Basics, Preteen Power, Family Money, Family Health and more. We also run feature articles of 800-2,000 words on topics of pertinence to South Florida parents. Features require careful research, independent reporting and well-developed interviews with South Florida sources.

Our focus is on our three-county market and we prefer features that use sources and settings in South Florida. Assignments, when given, go almost exclusively to writers who live in southeast Florida. However, we do consider insightful, captivating essays and features from outside our area, particularly those that deal with universal themes and issues. All stories must include clearly identified, real sources. Articles or essays that use only first names, composites or fictional examples will not be considered.

We welcome your submission of material previously published outside South Florida, if offered to us on an exclusive basis in southeast Florida. No submissions or queries that are offered to other publications in southeast Florida will ever be considered. We do not buy work from writers who are published by our competitors. For reprint offers, send either typed manuscripts or clips and let us know where the material appeared.

E-sub only.
$150-$300 for first publication
$30-$50 for reprints, including online rights.
You *must* not submit work to any other publications in South Florida.

(n.b. The wording is weird: do they mean must not submit *this* piece of work or *any* piece of work? … If you’re interested in the market, might behoove you to check …)

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